That Winter the Wolf Came

I liked some essay/poems more than others, but together they depict Spahr's experiences as part of the Occupy movement in an interesting, poetic light. Emotive language.

This book gave me hope. This book gave words to clutching friends and running to oppose the state. Truly a beautiful telling of important things.

The epic of Occupy, but from the stance of a person who is there and sensitive to what it means to be a together there when there are economies that are happy being in their there, always there, really. And this person who is Juliana Spahr is aware that she relies upon that there, even while she's there at the Occupy. Complicated! Juliana maybe doesn't know this when she's starting herself out. But you can see how she's working her way over in that direction. It's fascinating. It's such a treasure!And when there is not just Occupy, but the world right there where we kept thinking we'd left it, but some people didn't leave it. That's how I like thinking of the Deepwater Horizon part, where Spahr opts to be there, and to show that there was a natural pressure building there, a waste that was making the pressure build, and, even though everyone should have seen it coming, or been a little bit better about taking into consideration all the unusual readings that were there, no one did, and then things exploded. I wonder what she might be comparing that to. I wonder why she would then show all the types of chemicals operating as a part of her mothering life while she is looking after her child. And "I wonder" in a sarcastic way.Because I like how Spahr has the earnest sarcasm that visits this. Or is it just self-pitying enthusiasm for belonging to something. Or maybe all this is covered by the term "nostalgia." Such light notes and dark notes nostalgia. No matter what, nostalgia is a pretty valid way of remembering you loved and were loved by others or by a place or a time, and it was good, but it won't be like that anymore. Nostalgia even works for bad times. But it doesn't feel like Spahr is so concerned about bad times. It's all good for her and Non-Revolution.

Strange, exciting poetry. Found out about it from a positive review by Ben Lerner (author of Leaving the Atocha Station, among other things). Spahr's book was one of his favorites in 2015. I have to agree. (See Ben Lerner's recommendation here: http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/books-loved-2015)

Wonderful book. I had to read this for a Literature & the Environment class. I may be dramatic, but I wanted to cry because I thoroughly enjoyed the way she wrote and spoke about a matter so obviously close to her heart. I will be re-reading this again in the future, perhaps several times. It's not a traditional novel at all, so don't expect that.

An absolutely dreadful book. Grammatical errors. VERY short (70 pages). And full of terrible, self-indulgent and meaningless poetry. I threw this book in the bin, not even putting it in the "share a book" pile at my school.Many of the pages are blank or nearly blank.There is **NO STORY** in this book. It doesn't convey a THING.